DO YOU REMEMBER THIS PRODUCT?

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  • Last Post 22 May 2020
mashburn posted this 21 May 2020

Hello again,

I was digging around out in the shop last week and drug out an old square 8lb. Dupont  powder can. The shiny one with the big lid that popped down in the center to seal , or unseal, I can't remember which. It was quite heavy from what ever was in it. I opened it and it was full of cartridge cases. I dumped some of them out on the work bench and I immediately saw that most of them had been cleaned with the old Herter's liquid case cleaner. How many of you have ever used this old Herter's stuff? You mixed it with water and soaked the cases in it for a few minutes and then rinsed with water. I had a big chunk of styerfoam that I would stick the case necks down in and allow them to drain and dry. This stuff gave the cases a color that nothing else did. To me the cases always seemed lighter in weight after you cleaned with the Herter's cleaner. I don't know what the contents of the cleaner was, it's been too long .Evidently it didn't effect their ductility or strength because I fired cases cleaned with this stuff a bunch of times .I haven't used any of this cleaner to clean cases in over forty years so these cases have been hiding for a long time. At that time of my life the only means of cleaning cases was a wad of 4/0 steel wool so when I got the Herter's cleaner, I thought I was uptown. One thing for sure, once you cleaned in this stuff, the color stayed on. Have any of you had experience with this stuff, either good or bad.  I'm sure glad that I'm not that destitute now.

Mashburn

 

 

David a. Cogburn

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mashburn posted this 22 May 2020

Hello Bud,

I loaded cases cleaned in that stuff for a lot of firings and don't remember ever having any separations, hard extractions or splitting. One thing about it once you cleaned cases, they stayed that way for a long time. I bought a tapered octogen 12" contender barrel in .17 Mach IV and a bunch of shiny cases from a acquaintance, of mine, several years ago. When I loaded some ammo and fired the first one it wouldn't extract. I looked at the chamber and it was a little rough so I gave it a polishing. Fired another round and guess what, it stuck like the first. I went over to my brother-in-laws and borrowed a couple of rounds from him and you know what happened, they extracted fine. I finally pinned the guy down that I purchased these items from and he finally admitted that he had cleaned them in radiator cleaner or some off the wall stuff. I can't remember what he had dipped them in but he ruined a bunch of cases that I had money in. He's one of these guys that when someone is in a gun shop looking at a gun, they always ask___  _______ hasn't had anything to do  with this gun has he? But my final analysis is, the herter's cleaner didn't damage cases or I would probably be missing some facial features or something.

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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Bud Hyett posted this 21 May 2020

Yes I remember, that the cases changed color is why I never used it again. I still have GI issue .30-'06 brass from that cleaning I use in the M1 for shooting in places where I might not find it all. 

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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Wheel Weights posted this 21 May 2020

Yes it was a mild acid that left cases a strange yellow matte.

 

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mashburn posted this 22 May 2020

Hello Wheel Weights,

I had no idea that you were old enough to have had any dealings with this stuff.

Thanks for your response,

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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tlkeizer posted this 22 May 2020

Greetings,

Yes, I remember it.  We did a lot of prairie dog shooting when I was young, and mother had a friend pick up some case cleaner.   Then, we cleaned a bunch of .218 Bee and .243 brass and when father got home from the road we told him we got him some new cases.  
While the the cases were bright and shiny, he didn't buy it.  I do remember the cases did stay nice and bright for quite a while.  

TK

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Hoppy posted this 22 May 2020

Like the others who have responded, I was around when Herter's was selling that case cleaner, and I did try some. Weird. It did turn the cases an odd pinkish-yellow color. I was concerned that the cleaning treatment might have weakened the cases in some way, but shooting loads using those cases did not show any problems. But after doing some of that shooting I finally discarded the cases--perhaps because I didn't want to show up at the range with pink ammo. . . .

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